Earning My Mouseters Degree - Week 8

Week 8 of Environmentality and Sustainability - the last week of class. I had mixed emotions about this day: happy that I would finally get my two days off per week back, but sad because I truly did learn so much through the class and it was such a great experience. Nevertheless, week 8 was it, so this is how we wrapped things up.

Jeff, my teacher, had a "Green Team" Panel for the last week of class. Erin, the Wilderness Explorer's Manager, Karen, from Flights of Wonder, and Michelle, a talent planning manager for animals, sciences, and the environment came in to speak to us about how to break into the environmental field. They shared tips for your resume, interview hints, and what kind of skills it takes to be successful in these types of field. It was nice to hear from these three, especially because they all have great careers in things that I am interested in! It was fascinating to hear from Karen, as she is a trainer at the Flights of Wonder show (bird show). 

After the panel was over, we had a wrap-up session with Jeff. We talked about things we liked about the class, things we weren't too thrilled with, and things we wanted to see changed for the future. There was an overwhelming amount of feedback in favor of the field trips, so I guess I'm not the only one who loved getting our behind the scenes tours and information!

Finally, it was time to hand out our degrees and say goodbye. I not only earned my Mouseters Degree, but I also earned a Perfect Attendance too (signed by Mickey Mouse himself!)

All in all, this class was a wonderful experience. If any of you are interested in taking DCP classes in the future, I highly encourage you to try it! Take something that you are passionate about, and make the most of it! I definitely know that my DCP experience would have been totally different had it not been for environmentality and sustainability. 

Environmentality & Sustainability - Week 7

To say that today's class was the most interesting two hours I ever spent in a classroom would be a major understatement.

The topic: Animal Care
The speaker: Joseph, the Zoological Manager at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
The result: a blissful Megan

I absolutely loved everything about today's class. Joseph gave the class a brief overview of animal care and enrichment at Disney, told us about a typical day in the life of an animal keeper, gave us inside information on how the animals are taken care of and trained at the Lodge, told us about what makes the Lodge unique from Animal Kingdom, and even gave advice for people who were hoping to break into the zoological field!

I learned a ton of useful information today. For example, I learned that training is not only used for medical care, but animals can also be trained so that they can get exercise, keep their mind stimulated, or to get rid of a behavioral problem. We also learned about some problematic animals at the Lodge, such as one gazelle who likes human contact a little too much, which often puts her in dangerous situations! Joseph told us about how he got into the company, how he worked for a variety of different zoos and wildlife centers, and the tasks he does on a daily basis. He talked about how keepers do a lot of cleaning, but how they also have other really cool responsibilities at the Lodge, such as giving private safaris of the four different savannas, and having dinner at one of the signature dining restaurants with Guests. They also get to observe animal behavior, design enrichment activities for the animals, have guest interaction to share conservation messages, and work on training the animals.

The one important thing I took away from today's class is that I finally realized that animal keeping and training is really what I want to do with my life. It's always been something that I thought I wanted, but after hearing Joseph describe his day in the life and learning more about the kinds of things keepers do, it made me realize that I definitely want a career doing this in the future.

However, that's not even the coolest thing that happened during class today! I went up to introduce myself to Joseph and ask him a couple of questions after class, and I told him that I was applying for an internship with a zoo for next semester, and he asked me to sit down with him so that he could prep me for the interview! How amazing is that?!?! I got to sit down with a zoological manager at Disney World and he shared with me the types of common questions you get asked, the important things to mention, and told me how to make my personality stand out through the interview. I was amazed that he took the time to sit down with me and actually help me develop my future! It just goes to show how small and amazing a company Disney is, and how Cast Members truly do look out for one another.

I'm so thankful for all of the opportunities I've had through taking this environmentality & sustainability course at Disney. I can't even imagine doing half of the activities I've done or meeting half the people if I hadn't been enrolled in this course. For those of you considering taking classes at Disney, I HIGHLY recommend it!!!

Environmentality & Sustainability - Week 6

This week was another field trip week in Environmentality & Sustainability, and this time we went to The Seas in Epcot! Yes, I know, I'm a lucky girl who got to get a backstage tour of The Seas two weeks in a row... (if you haven't read my Meet & Greet at The Seas post yet, be sure to check it out!) Anyway, this week was a lot of fun. My group was given a private tour of The Seas by one of the education team's professional interns, Zack. He was really great and gave us a lot of information about the aquarium, the animals, and the care and maintenance of such a large system. I learned that all of the marine mammals at The Seas are males (4 dolphins, 2 manatees), that the water is constantly being filtered, and that it is the second largest aquarium in the world (behind the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta).

It was really cool to once again get a backstage tour of The Seas and learn about the kind of work and research that is going on there. I also had a great time talking to Zack about his role as a professional intern, and asking him questions that would help me best prepare to get a PI at Disney in the next few years. All of these classes are great networking opportunities, and it's not lost on me how much of an amazing experience this truly is. I know that not many people get to go backstage at The Seas, and far fewer people have as many opportunities as I have had to learn and see first how truly how much Disney cares about the environment and conservation.

I honestly could have cried being there, I wanted so badly to jump into the tank and put on my scuba gear to get in the aquarium. It was an amazing experience, and I am so looking forward to my last few classes of Environmentality & Sustainability!

By the way, if you're wondering why I haven't been taking pictures of all of my amazing backstage experiences, it's because Disney has a strict no backstage pictures policy, so I'm sorry guys, but you will just have to take my word for how cool it truly is!

Environmentality & Sustainability - Week 5

During Week 5 of Environmentality & Sustainability, the class took yet another field trip! This time, we went to The Land at Epcot and visited the Living with the Land ride and went on the "Behind the Seeds" backstage tour of the greenhouses. The best part of the whole tour was that it was given by two of the professional interns that work at The Land. For all of us College Program participants, having the opportunity to talk to people who are just a little older than us and doing these "dream" internships is an awesome experience. My group's tour guide, Rebecca, was an entomologist at The Land, which means she studies insects. She is there simply because bugs like plants! She gave us a backstage tour of all of the greenhouses and the fisheries and even let us release lady bugs onto the plants at the end of the tour (lady bugs kill harmful insects)!

I think the most interesting thing I learned during the class was that almost everything they make/grow at The Land is used on property in some way. A lot of the food and spices are used at Park and Resort Restaurants (especially the Garden Grill). What the restaurants won't take, they send to Animal Kingdom, where they try to incorporate some of the food into the animals' diets! Finally, whatever the people and animals don't want gets composted, which is great for the environment. Rebecca told us that such a small number (around 3%) of the stuff grown there goes to waste, which is an amazing percentage!

Also, did you know that the Imagineers had to start working on The Land before they had to start working on the big Epcot ball?! How cool is that?

Once again, this was an amazing experience. Most people have to pay to go on these kinds of tours, and I am getting them for free and getting to meet so many amazing people with awesome jobs! Look for my post next week about our class field trip to The Seas!!

Environmentality & Sustainability - Week 4

During class this week, we learned all about Corporate Citizenship, which is that the responsibility that companies have that comes with their name. Obviously, we mostly focused on Disney and their environmental citizenship, but corporate citizenship includes social responsibility as well. We also discussed other big name companies that were doing it "right" and those that could use some work on their corporate citizenship, and we suggested ways for them to improve. 

From there, we began to talk about Disney's Worldwide Conservation Fund, which is a fund Disney set up along with the opening of Disney's Animal Kingdom. The DWCF gives grants and money to different environmental and wildlife agencies, with its mission being to protect wildlife and wild places. Each dollar that Guests donate in the Disney parks and resorts gets matched by Disney and 100% of it goes to the DWCF. We heard from a guest speaker about his role in the DWCF and watched some videos about its mission and values. 

My two favorite projects that the DWCF supports are the efforts to educate people about the cotton top tamarin in Columbia, as this is an extremely endangered animal and its habitat is currently restricted to one area in Columbia. By educating people about the tamarin and its ecological importance, the DWCF and its supporting companies have been able to empower the Colombian people to learn about and protect the cotton top tamarin. In fact, some of the merchandise made by these people are sold in Disney parks, and a portion of the profit goes back to Colombia to save the tamarins! Look for these "eco-mochila" products the next time you visit a Disney merchandise location. My other favorite project was one in which tried to conserve the elephants in India. Elephants in India would often knock over farmers fences and come into the villages and destroy plant life and scare people, which is turn is a reason why elephants are endangered. However, elephants have a weak spot: bees. Elephants are afraid of bees, so scientists have used this knowledge to encourage the Asian farmers to have bees nests on their fences. The elephants then stay away from the people and their villages, and it's also more beneficial to the farmers because they then have a new crop to harvest: honey!

If you see people wearing pins around the parks, then they are "conservation heroes" and have donated to the DWCF. I encourage all of you to consider making a donation, no matter how small, because every cent matters when it comes to saving the environment!

Environmentality & Sustainability - Week 3

During week 3 of class we got to go on a field trip! The class met at Disney's Animal Kingdom at Rafiki's Conservation Station for our two hour class last Thursday. For the first portion of class, we split up into groups and did a scavenger hunt through Rafiki's Conservation Station. The questions on the scavenger hunt were about the park, different conservation plans, figuring out how to navigate the area of the park, and different fun facts. For example, did you know that there are over 100 Hidden Mickey's on the mural inside the building? The scavenger hunt was alright; it was nice to get to know some of my classmates, but it felt rushed and I knew a lot of the information already from working at Animal Kingdom. 

However, the second half of class was AWESOME! The area manager of Kilimanjaro Safaris, Mike, gave us a private, backstage safari tour! He gave us exclusive cast-only information about the safari set-up, the animals, and the care that some of the animals receive. This was amazing, and I loved seeing the "Cast Member" side of the safari, especially because I have been on the Guest safari so many times.

Lions on the Safari

So far, I'm really impressed with my Environmentality & Sustainability Class! Yes, it's hard to drag myself out of the apartment every week for class, but so far I have not been disappointed by the material, and I really think I have something to gain from this class!

Environmentality & Sustainability - Week 2

In  Week 2 of my Environmentality & Sustainability class, we talked all about the Reedy Creek Improvement District with a special focus on recycling in the parks. For those of you who don't know what Reedy Creek is, it's a special district set up to provide services to the Walt Disney World Resort and surrounding areas, because at the time that WDW was built, neither Orange nor Osceola county had the services needed to provide the land with power and water. Disney pays Reedy Creek directly for its services (as well as taxes to Orange and Osceola counties), and Reedy Creek has a special relationship with the Disney company which makes them able to work well together. Reedy Creek provides power, water, roadways, fire emergency, and emergency medical services, as well as many other things to Disney. We watched a video about RCID and learned about the different jobs that people have there (they are not Disney Cast Members).

After learning about RCID, we had a guest speaker come talk to us about recycling in the Magic Kingdom. He has a unique job in that he is the only Cast Member with his title. I don't remember his exact job title, but it was something like Recycling Coordinator at the Magic Kingdom. I found it really interesting that the Magic Kingdom is the only park that has a coordinator of recycling. It seems like something that could easily be added to the other parks and make an even bigger impact on Disney's conservation and sustainability efforts, but he did let us know that it is something they are looking into. He let us know that there is so much contamination that goes into the recycling bins at the parks, and its his team's job to go through and separate the trash from the recycling and make sure that it all gets to Reedy Creek. So, that's something to think about the next time you visit a Disney park; bottles and cans get recycled, everything else gets thrown away unless otherwise specified!

I'm really looking forward to class next week, as we have class at Animal Kingdom in Rafiki's Conservation Station. This is something that is completely up my alley, and I think it's going to be a unique and extremely interesting class!

Environmentality & Sustainability - Week 1

I had my first Disney Seminar Class this afternoon, Environmentality & Sustainability. For those of you who know me, this class is perfect for me because it combines environmental science, animal care, recycling, marine biology, and many other environmental/biological topics into one 8 week course taught and led by Disney facilitators. My class meets every Thursday afternoon for the next 8 weeks. The majority of the time, we meet in a classroom and have guest speakers join us for the class period, however, we do have 3 field trips scheduled, one to Animal Kingdom and two to Epcot.

Lesson Plans for Environmentality & Sustainability

This course should provide me with plenty of opportunities to network and gain insight into the way Disney handles their animals and the surrounding environment. 

In the first class, we learned about our instructor, Jeff. Like me, he started out on the College Program and has since bounced around the company working in many different areas until he landed his current position on the Education team. From there, we talked about the expectations for the course, went over the week by week plan, and then began to discuss how the Walt Disney Company first took its interest in sustainability and conservation. I learned that Walt had always been interested in the environment, as evidenced by one of his first animated features, Bambi. 

After Bambi, Walt and Roy ventured on to try out their live action documentaries, True Life Adventures. They used live footage of animals and different ecosystems and won several Academy Awards for their work. 

We also discussed how out of the 47 square miles of the Walt Disney World Resort, 1/3 of that land has been set aside for Disney Wildlife Preservation, and this was Walt's intention all along. This course is truly fascinating, especially for someone like me, who is so interested in the environmental science field. 

I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks in my course and all of the new information I will learn, people I will meet, and connections I will make. I'll definitely keep everyone updated on my progress in the course, and please, if you have any specific questions, let me know!